Media and Public Communications Department Presented the Bulgarian Edition of ABC of Journalism. Handbook for Students, Lecturers and Practitioners

The Bulgarian edition of the German handbook ABC of Journalism. A Handbook for Students, Lecturers and Practitioners was presented in the Ceremonial Hall. The event was organized by the Media and Public Communications Department at UNWE in cooperation with the Media Programme for Southeastern Europe of Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Chief Assist. Dr. Ilia Valkov from the Media and Public Communications Department (on the right) and Hendrik Zittig, Head of the Media Programme for Southeastern Europe of Konrad Adenauer Foundation, took part in the presentation of the book

The edition presented to students contributes to the improvement of professional skills in a competitive environment and introduces new areas of activity for journalism in the field of public relations or media management going beyond the field of traditional media.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mihail Musov, Vice Rector for Research and International Affairs, greeted the participants on behalf of the Rector Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov. He outlined that in the world of digital communications and fake news the qualitative journalism is extremely important. "It is an honour for us to host such an event especially a day after our Media and Public Communications Department was officially declared as a UNESCO Chair in Media Literacy and Cultural Policies for Sustainable Development. That`s why I would like to assure our partners that it is the right place for the presentation of this work which contains the foundations for the professional creation of media products", emphasized Assoc. Prof. Musov.

"I hope that the presentation of this handbook will set the beginning of a good cooperation with the Media Programme for Southeastern Europe of Konrad Adenauer Foundation. This organization not only does interesting and profound research on the media environment in Eastern Europe but it has very good and useful programmes for your career development related to the media", said during the event Chief Assist. Dr. Ilija Valkov from the Media and Public Communications Department.

He outlined that in a media environment of misinformation and fake news the deficit of serious and good journalism is evident not only in Bulgaria but everywhere in the world. "That is why such handbooks can be very useful especially for young people who are just entering the journalistic profession", added Dr. Valkov.

"We all know how difficult and responsible it is to write a textbook. This handbook is a truly impressive work.  There are so many aspects not only of the journalistic profession but also aspects of the media environment that are extremely important for creating a qualitative journalism", said to students Assoc. Prof. Dr. Svetla Tsankova, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Economics of Infrastructure.

Hendrik Zittig, Head of the Media Programme for Southeastern Europe of Konrad Adenauer Foundation, shared that the journalism is above all a craft that should be learned. "Through their role in democracy the journalists have a significant social responsibility. Therefore, it is necessary to learn not only how to do research, write news and reports and conduct interviews. A man must know what differs the good journalist in a democratic society. These are diligence in research and documentation, separation of opinion from news, impartiality, objectivity and incorruptibility", said Hendrik Zittig.

During the presentation of the handbook a lecture was delivered by the Bulgarian journalist Alexander Andreev, former longstanding Head of the Bulgarian editorial office of Radio Deutsche Welle in Bonn.

"What I want you to remember from our meeting today is that the important thing is the content, not the personality. And also - the journalist's job is to write articles, not to whisper in politicians' ears what to do. He should be a public figure, a mediator. To speak out loud the things he thinks", said Alexander Andreev.